


When the Sky is Grey

by summerartist



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 05:25:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerartist/pseuds/summerartist
Summary: Matt Murdock has some issues with the cold that make it more than an inconvenience.





	When the Sky is Grey

The first day that the radiators went on the fritz in Matt’s apartment had only a mild effect. The rooms still held in some residual heat and Matt found that he did well enough wrapped in a blanket while he sipped various hot drinks. By the second day it was colder and Matt called a repair man who would not be there until the end of the week. It seemed that repair employees were in short supply this week as Hell’s Kitchen struggled to keep warm and mend pipelines.

 

The temperature during the nights was beginning to dip down below freezing and Matt had a harder time retaining heat. He wore gloves indoors and the Devil was unfortunately benched until the heating issue (and an issue with his still healing ribs) was resolved.

 

He still went out and huddled among those seeking refuge in warm cafes. He wore his glasses and a thickly knitted scarf to cover any of the affects the cold was having on him.

 

Whenever he went to the office Karen and Foggy would complain loudly about the lousy weather and Matt would smile but would refrain from chiming in. Later Foggy would apologize for complaining when he knew how hard it was for Matt. Matt would shrug and say he could endure it and then briskly change the subject when Foggy would least expect it. Foggy, of course, was not an idiot and immediately noticed.

 

He spared Matt his pride. Looking back on it now Matt wished he had not and instead wished he had called him out on it. Maybe he would have been spared this current predicament.

 

It had been a night with only a few sirens here and there, nothing major going on. Good Samaritan Matthew Murdock assisted Hell’s Kitchen on his way home by helping hustle the homeless into warm shelters. He used his kindness and his skills with an argument to convince them to look after themselves. Now with his work completed he sought shelter and ducked into his apartment building. His hand were shaking so much that he fumbled with the keys and his fingers were so swollen that barely any coordination remained in them.

 

Sound was strangely crisp at higher octaves in the icy temperatures. He left his jacket on as he crossed the threshold and walked over to his couch. He had just picked up his blankets when he heard something. He tilted his head, willing the sound to reach him. It gradually filtered through the walls. It came again, a small wail not unlike a child’s and soft like a young voice.

 

What was a child doing out in this cold? Matt instantly threw down the blanket and readjusted his scarf around his numb face. He took a step back towards the door. A call rose up in the wind, someone looking for someone lost.

 

At first he thought that the name was “Leo” and he mentally jotted it down as he readied himself to look for the lost individual. He thought better of going back out through his door when he knew that the rooftop would be a quicker route. With all of the layers he was bundled under it would be difficult to identify him much less see that he was blind. His alter ego would be safe if he forewent the suit as he scouted out in the cold.

 

There was another wail and Matt’s heartbeat jumped. He caught onto a strange note in the sound, the voice was almost...animalistic.

 

“Cleo!”

 

Matt’s eyes shut as the realization hit him. It was a cat. There was a cat trapped out in the cold just a block away. Their owner was obviously looking for the animal.

 

“Cleo, where are you?”

 

The human voice was distraught. They sounded young, a child or teenager perhaps.

 

Matt sighed as he drew a blanket around his shoulders and tied it around him with shaking hands. It would take a while to warm himself up again after experiencing the residual chill in his bones. He figured that he would find a way to manage.

 

Contrary to popular belief Matt liked animals... he merely did not want to be responsible for one. He supposed that if he were a cat he would have liked to be rescued on such a night and so he barely hesitated to venture back out. He climbed the stairs up to the roof and bit back a moan as he threw the trapdoor open. A flurry of snow drifted in as he hastily exited. Matt stepped out onto the ledges and began edging towards the latest source of noise.

 

* * *

 

 

When Matt returned the cat to its rather worried owner he had handed it over without a word. He vanished into the deepening night shortly afterward like he did when he deposited the less innocent individuals of Hell’s Kitchen on the NYPD’s doorstep. He heard the pet owner call out in gratitude towards his back but he did not turn. He started to go back towards his apartment, swollen hands within his gloves clutching his layers to him. His inner world on fire was more like an impenetrable inferno at the edges, swirling endlessly in his inner eye. He stumbled on the ice but continued walking.

 

His sluggish mind pointed out that he should get to somewhere with heating and somewhere preferably where his state would not be noticed. He was so cold that he was beginning to ignore the chill. It alarmed him in a sense and he supposed that he should seek refuge.

 

He walked gingerly over the patches of ice and the light dusting of snow, hands outstretched to catch himself. He briefly entertained the idea of seeking shelter with the homeless as citizen Matt Murdock caught unexpectedly in the cold.

 

The real problem is that he had developed this condition after the blindness and so he had only a vague impression of what he looked like. He had frightened a couple of people in college with the visual threat of giving them something contagious. Perhaps it was best if he went to the person who had seen him regularly like this, though the outcome was bound to be...unpleasant.

 

* * *

 

 

Foggy had been minding his own business puttering around his apartment when he turned to find someone hovering outside his window in the dusk. He recognized very quickly who it was but he still dropped his plate and swore loudly. The figure did not even wince but tilted his head.

 

Foggy approached the window by fire escape and began to draw it open. “Matt, what the-”

 

His exclamation fell silent as he started to make out that Matt’s face was a disconcerting white beneath the large red patches.

 

“Damn it.” Foggy hissed and pushed the window up the rest of the way. “Come on. What the hell are you doing outside in this weather?”

 

His tone was laced with suspicion that was only tempered by the appearance of Matt rather than Hell’s Kitchen favorite vigilante.

 

“I was- I was rescuing a cat.” Matt’s voice trembled with cold and what was likely to be dizziness.

 

Foggy took his ice cold palm and helped him climb through. Given time, Matt would have most likely have managed by himself. Foggy knew how weak he grew with the cold and so he helped him while berating him over his life choices.

 

“You can’t be serious. You don’t even like cats. You sure as heck shouldn’t be risking your life for one.”

 

“I like cats,” Matt stated, completely missing the point.

 

Foggy did not even pause as he was only getting warmed up so to speak. “You should have gotten someone else to go out in this crap weather, not you.”

 

A million of little undercurrents underlay his tone and Matt knew why and still remembered why.

 

One time Foggy had found him nearly unconscious on Christmas break on campus after he had turned down Foggy’s offer to go home with him. Matt had later revealed that he did not want to bother anyone with this additional condition. It was an instinctual reaction, having had independence ingrained into him from a young age. Stick certainly held no pity for him and his weaknesses.

 

Foggy had sworn a blue streak and bundled him up in warm blankets while coaxing him to sip a hot drink. He had fussed over him for a good while and had all but abducted him for a trip home to enjoy the holiday with the Nelsons.

 

Ever since the incident when the cold weather hit Matt was dragged to family functions to receive hot meals or given a place to stay by Foggy. If Foggy sat a bit closer to him while they watched and listened to _Star Trek_ in the freezing dorms he said nothing about it.

 

Now however, Matt had no excuses for his appearance. He was an adult with a job and stores of resourcefulness. He should be nice and cozy in his apartment except he was not.

 

“This is why I tried to get you Antihistamines,” Foggy hissed at him as he helped steer Matt over to the couch.

 

Unluckily for them Matt’s condition was unusual enough so that most affordable clinics were at a loss of how to diagnose him while Matt had known the diagnosis almost from day one. He was allergic to the cold, it was as simple as that.

 

“Couldn’t diagnose the Cold Urticaria,” Matt mumbled vaguely.

 

He also broke out when cool liquids like sweat covered his skin but he rarely reached quite that level of sweat soaked exhaustion these days. That was not to say that it had not happened though.

 

“Those doctors upstate are quacks if you ask me, should have sued them.”

 

Matt gave a weak chuckle, used to Foggy’s gruffness on his behalf. He had begun to shiver and both of them breathed a little sigh. If he was shivering he was going to be fine.

 

Foggy had wrapped the couch throw blanket around him and went into his bedroom, supposedly to retrieve more blankets. With Foggy out of the room Matt allowed himself a quiet groan. He felt like he had been dragged through a frozen lake and then suspended upside down. His head was still reeling and he swayed from side to side at intervals.

 

He fell into a daze only to be revived by Foggy helping him to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you into bed.”

 

Matt’s sluggish mind abruptly woke and he started to protest. Foggy talked him down.

 

“I was just changing the sheets so they should be good smell-wise. They aren’t silk but they’ll keep you warm.”

 

For some unknown reason Foggy chuckled. Matt frowned and tilted his ear towards him.

 

“Oh, it just reminded me of something, a movie reference. You should be grateful I’m not stuffing you inside the belly of a Tauntaun.”

 

“Vore, Foggy? Gross.”

 

“Hey, no one gets to kinkshame The Empire Strikes Back. It’s the best one and you know it.”

 

Matt erupted into a fit of weak giggles and was stuffed unceremoniously towards the covers. He poked his head back up to answer Foggy’s next question. He did in fact have a preference as to what beverage he desired.

 

“Beer.”

 

“No, a warm drink, Murdock. To serve a warm beer is just sacrilege and European.”

 

“Fine. Just hot tea then.”

 

“Coming right up.”

 

Foggy clicked his tongue before leaving the room. Matt’s hands twitched and the ghost of a smile slipped over his features. He slowly sank down onto the mattress under the heap of covers.

 

He did not know what he had ever done to deserve Foggy. His best friend had somehow effortlessly talked him into taking the warmest room in the house and to lay down comfortably to heat back up. His hands were still shaking but the absence of freezing air was doing him good. When his friend returned Matt was already a little less spotty.

 

“It looks like your hives are going down. Here’s your tea. I’m going to touch your right hand and put the handle into it.”

 

Foggy would have usually put it on the end table for him but Matt was just far too sluggish to do much in the way of moving.

 

“Just let me know when you get hungry. We can order out from that Mexican place across the street.”

 

Matt famously ate a lot after having an allergic episode and had often cleared out their fridge. Foggy had always been good enough to fill it.

 

“So, a cat, huh?”

 

Matt nodded, wary of the line of questioning.

 

“Any particular reason why you decided to stay outside in the cold after rescuing the cat?”

 

Matt flinched, mouth twisting at the side. He thought it better to answer truthfully and get it over with.

 

“My apartment doesn’t have any heating. The radiator broke.”

 

“Let me guess, the handbook of mad ninja skills doesn’t include anything on fixing radiators. Did you at least call a repair guy?”

 

“Yes, but he can’t make it out until the end of the week.” What little Matt could make out of Foggy’s expression did not make it seem like he was impressed.

 

“And I suppose you didn’t think your pal Foggy Nelson would have the heart to save his best friend from freezing to death.” The slight exaggeration had a bitter tang to the tone of it. He continued more imploringly. “Come on, you know you could have stayed here until they fix it. In fact you are going to be staying here until they do.”

 

Matt raised his eyebrows but wisely did not challenge him. Foggy’s heartbeat started to calm down now that Matt was listening to him.

 

“Geez Matt, were you really going to ride it out, nearly passing out every day?”

 

Matt gritted his teeth. “In my defense I didn’t think it would get this cold this quickly. I was going to coffee shops before going home.”

 

Foggy seemed somewhat appeased by the information. “At least you have some sense of self-preservation. It’s about time.”

 

Matt held his tongue again and frowned. Foggy sighed.

 

“Look, I just...worry about my friend. He gets into a lot of tight spots, you know?”

 

Matt’s expression softened. “I know. I’ll come to you next time, I promise.” There was gravity in his tone and he sat up straighter under the mound of blankets.

 

“I’ll hold you to that, Murdock.” Foggy’s voice had lightened somewhat.

 

He raised his mug in a toast. “To keeping warm.”

 

“To keeping warm,” Foggy agreed.

 

* * *

 

 

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, I don't think I have a good enough hold on their characterization. I tried though.


End file.
